VVVVVV Review

VVVVVV
for PC & Mac

When I saw my first screenshots of VVVVVV, I was a bit incredulous. Someone wants to charge $15 for a platformer with graphics that even I could draw? There’s retro and then there’s RETRO and VVVVVV definitely falls under the latter category. Still, I was willing to give Distractionware the benefit since I enjoyed one of their earlier freeware titles (Don’t Look Back) and I’m glad I did, because VVVVVV is one of the finest platformers I’ve had the pleasure to play.

The premise is simple – you’re the captain of a spaceship, something goes wrong, and you have to rescue your scattered crewmates, using only your ability to run and flip gravity whenever you’re standing on a solid surface. The game is part exploration game (in addition to your main goal, there are twenty trinkets hidden throughout the game), part puzzle game (one optional puzzle in particular really impressed me as being very creative), but mostly it’s a reflex-driven action game where you’re trying to avoid spikes (hence the name) and enemies. It’s very hard, but more importantly, it’s very fair. Respawn spots are littered generously through the game, teleporters to get around the map are frequent, and all of the game mechanics were very obviously presented to the player so if you can’t solve a puzzle, it’s your own fault.

VVVVVV’s level design is masterful. Rarely is there a wasted moment and the player is constantly being introduced to new challenges. The game is largely non-linear, although there are a few levels in set points like the beginning and end. Generally non-linear games suffer from uneven difficulty, but here it works out just fine. Each level has its own unique feature (like gravity reversing trampolines or automatically scrolling rooms) with each level starting out easy and getting more and more difficult the further you get in.

Despite my initial hesitation, the graphics grew on me. Sure, it’s low tech, but it’s got style and reminded me a little of ZZT (an old favorite of mine). The music, on the other hand, was simply fantastic and would have done even the best NES game proud.

The game took me a little over 2 hours to complete and about 30-60 minutes extra to acquire all twenty trinkets. That’s admittedly short, but after beating the game, there are some extra modes like time trials and a very difficult action-packed survival mode so you could end up spending far more time if you like chasing high scores.

Is VVVVVV worth your money? That depends. If you’re low on cash and looking for a game that will last you a long time, then probably not since there are many games that are much longer or have more replayability. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a great memorable experience like Braid or Portal, then I highly recommend VVVVVV. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish and I’m sure I’ll return to it later this year to work on my time trial scores.